Anyone that can get out to California has to go see these Redwood trees and the Redwood forests. They are absolutely spectacular, peaceful, inspiring...you cannot get enough of them.



We went to the Avenue of the Giants, a 26-mile drive along the Eel River where the entire drive is lined with these magnificent trees. These are earth's oldest living things. Some are over 2200 years old. Most are around the 900-1200 year old range.



Besides walking through the forest looking at the base of the trees and the ferns and other growth, you end up looking up constantly at the amazing height of them.


When there is too much rain, which soaks the soil, and strong winds come up, the older trees will fall. You can see the gigantic cavity left in the ground where the trunk pulled out. Standing next to these stumps makes you see, even more, how large they were. After they fall, the forest begins to take them back over. It can take up to 400 years for one of these fallen giants to completely decompose!



Wonderful scenery along the paths as well, including Fairy Rings (or Cathedral Rings). This is where younger sprouts are growing up next to an older tree so that, one day, they'll become the giant after the older one falls.



There is so much more to the Coastal Redwoods that we had to include some information that we find fascinating. We saw a movie at the Visitor's Center that showed Stephen Sillett climbing and documenting the Redwoods. It was terrific. Here's a site. Be sure to click on the Photos link below. It will show you how they climbed the trees.


 http://www2.humboldt.edu/redwoods/photos/

http://www2.humboldt.edu/redwoods/sillett/

 

Coast redwoods range from southern Oregon to central California, extending not more than fifty miles inland- only as far as the coastal climate has its influence. Fog plays a vital role in the survival of these trees, protecting them from the summer drought conditions typical of this area. They also need abundant winter rain and moderate year round temperatures. In ideal conditions a coast redwood can grow 2-3 feet in height annually, but when the trees are stressed from lack of moisture and sunlight they may grow as little as one inch per year.

Because these trees are so tall, the treetop needles are exposed to more dry heat than the needles of branches in the dense canopy below. To compensate for this, redwoods grow treetop needles with tight spikes that conserve moisture, due to little evaporative surface. The lower branches, on the other hand, produce flat needles in order to catch additional light through the thick canopy of branches. 

These trees have shallow root systems that extend over one hundred feet from the base, intertwining with the roots of other redwoods. This increases their stability during strong winds and floods. 

Redwoods are naturally resistant to insects, fungi, and fire because they are high in tannin and do not produce resin or pitch. Their thick, reddish, pithy bark also provides protection and insulation for the tree. Even a downed tree can survive The blackened hollows you will see when you walk through the grove were caused by a fire in 1926, and are a testament to the trees' remarkable ability to survive.

Redwood trees flower during the wet and rainy months of December and January. They produce cones that mature the next fall. Redwood cones are about an inch long and they produce tiny seeds, about the same size as a tomato seed. While each tree can produce 100,000 seeds annually, the germination rate is very low. Most redwoods grow more successfully from sprouts that form around the base of a tree, utilizing the nutrients and root system of a mature tree. When the parent tree dies, a new generation of trees rise, creating a circle of trees that are often called fairy rings.  

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22257

Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet (115.5 m) in height (without the roots) and up to 29.2 feet (8.9 m) in diameter at breast height / dbh. These trees are also among the oldest living things on Earth.

 Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2) along much of coastal California (excluding southern California where rainfall is not sufficient) and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States. An estimated 95% or more of the original old-growth redwood trees have been cut down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_sempervirens

HISTORY

In the summer of 1926, a well-connected Newton B. Drury (secretary of Save the Redwoods League) invited the Rockefeller family up to the northern California redwoods and arranged for a lavish lunch to be had in the Dyerville Flats. John D. Rockefeller must have had an impressive meal because less than a year later he presented Save the Redwoods League with a check for $1,000,000 to purchase the grove. With matching funds from the State of California and another generous million dollar donation in 1929 by the Rockefellers, the 9,335 acres of Dyerville Flats was purchase from the Pacific Lumber Company in 1931. Initially, J.D. Rockefeller did not want the forest named after his family, so until 1951 it was known as the Bull Creek-Dyerville Forest. Today, it is known as the Rockefeller Forest and is the heart of Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
http://humboldtredwoods.org/park_history


We've been here when we first started our journeys and this time was even better although there's never enough time to stay and appreciate these marvelous trees.